After glorious weather in Cologne yesterday it was a bit disappointing to wake to grey misty skies this morning, but we made the best of it and still had a fun day.
All morning we cruised along the Rhine gorge, braving the chill on the sundeck to see the castles wreathed in mist on the peaks. Around ten am we passed the famous Lorelei rock and statue . She looked a little chilly!
Around lunchtime we docked in Kaub and had a short bus ride into Rudesheim, one of the most visited little towns in the Rhine gorge. During the morning it had only been overcast and misty but by now there were frequent falls of drizzly rain. The local shopkeepers and cafe owners were probably delighted with the weather as many people chose to potter around town for a couple of hours.
We teamed up with Gae and Greg to ride the cable car up the hill to the Germanic monument, a spectacular structure built to commemorate the unification of Germany after the Franco Prussian wars. The view was grand despite the weather but we didn’t linger up there too long.
Back in town we made a beeline for one of the cafes to sample the coffee concoction that is a Rudesheim specialty. Into the uniquely shaped mugs goes three sugar cubes and a very generous dollop of hot brandy, these are flamed together before being topped up with coffee and a generous topping of whipped cream and chocolate. It was delicious and just what we needed to warm us up after our chilly cable car ride.
The boat had sailed up to Rudesheim to collect us and we set off down the river again late in the afternoon. We all got together and swapped notes over a few shots of our schnapps that we’d won in last night trivia contest.
The afternoon’s entertainment was a Zither concert by a local expert but I’ll have to let a Neil describe that one as I chose to rest up for a couple of hours instead. After another tasty dinner ( I chose the corn fed chicken with white asparagus) most of us settled in for a stiff game of UNO, bringing out that competitive instinct yet again. 😂
Reno, the on board musician was very popular with the crowd in the lounge, several were up dancing and we even had a conga line dancing past us at one stage. They are a lively lot!